Assembly for cutting cakes from a loaf of soap or the like



Aug. 5, 1967 A. GEN-ros@ 3,335,473

ASSEMBLY FOR CUTTING CAKES FROM A LOAF OF SOAP OR THE LIKE Filed May 2l, 1965 u TV I7: @4

United States Patent O 3,335,473 ASSEMBLY FOR CUTTING CAKES FROM A LOAF F SOAP 0R THE LIKE Andrew Gentoso, Cresskill, NJ., assignor to Faberge, Inc., Ridegfeld, NJ., a corporation of New York Filed May 21, 1965, Ser. No. 457,565 Claims. (Cl. 25-106) This invention relates to an assembly useful for cutting moderately hard objects .to a predetermined size and more particularly relates to an assembly including a knife and a supporting and alining board to be used in cutting cakes from a loaf of soap.

In accordance with the invention, soap is to be marketed in the form of loaves rather than bars as is broadly practiced in the prior art. Each loaf of soap will be substantially larger than the bars of soap presently available. In one advantageous embodiment the loaf is about 2'1/2 inches wide, 8 inches long and 1% inch tall. The loaf of soap will be of such hardness as is normally expected in soap yet permitting ready cutting by the user into convenient use size cakes.

For efficient and convenient use of the loaves of soap it is desirable that apparatus be available to slice olf cakes of handy size for use. An ordinary mitre box approximates such apparatus but has certain disadvantages. For instance, the usual mitre box is used in conjunction with a saw that is relatively bulky and awkward for a novice to use. Also the ordinary mitre box and saw must be stored separately and moreover, would not be acceptable as devices to be kept in the ordinary bathroom.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved unit comprising a soap loaf supporting structure and a cutting device in a single assembly, which may be used for cutting cakes from a loaf of soap, which may be readily stored or placed on a shelf and which may be readily used by one who need not be skilled in the use of tools.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved device for cutting loaves of soap which may be handled like an ordinary kitchen knife yet possesses cutting capabilities akin to those of a saw.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an assembly of a saw-tooth knife in a board or other frame structure which has improved capabilities for slicing cakes from a loaf of soap,

It is a further object of this invention to provide a supporting unit for a loaf of soap having as an integral part of it a knife which is adapted to t into the structure for easy access and ready storage.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a knife for use with a loaf supporting and guiding member in which the knife handle at the end from which the blade extends is sloped to protect the users linger from being pinched against the guide wall of the support member during cutting.

Other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art from reading the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of the loaf supporting and guiding member and knife assembly of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the loaf supporting and guiding member and knife assembly of the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along the lines 3--3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a top view of the knife portion of the assembly of the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is a side view of the knife portion of the assembly of the present invention; and

FIGURE 6 is an end view of the handle of the knife portion of the assembly of the present invention, as seen from the right in FIGURE 5.

The objects of this invention may be achieved by the use of an assembly made up of an improved knife, a base, and a backboard connected to the base and containing a slot for guiding the knife in use and another slot or opening serving as a retaining means for storage of the knife. The base and backboard together dene a supporting and guiding member and are preferably formed of wood, but may be formed of steel, aluminum, etc. In one advantageous embodiment the backboard is grooved or cut-away to match the contour of a portion of the base to t snugly to the base and facilitate the connection of the two. The height to which the backboard extends above the base is such as to retain the loaf of soap in a selected position on the base with the top of the loaf of soap slightly below the top of that portion of the backboard which is in the region of the slot which guides the knife as the latter is being used.

The blade of the knife is serrated, or saw-toothed rather than straight to better cut solid materials such as loaves of soap. A longitudinal slot is provided in the backboard to receive the blade of the knife during storage. Preferably this slot is sized so that the blade tits snugly and is retained quite firmly in a manner to give it the appearance of an extension of a part of the backboard. The slot which guides the knife in use extends, preferably substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the backboard.

It is highly advantageous that the handle of the knife is so shaped as to fit snugly the slot or opening in the backboard, with the end portion of the knife handle adjacent the blade being sloped upwardly and toward the rear. This serves to achieve the object hereinabove stated that when the handle of the knife is brought into contact with the backboard, the slope prevents accidental pinching of the linger between the handle and the backboard when the knife is held in a natural cutting position. A natural position of the hand when Icutting with a knife, particularly where a sawing motion is used, is to have the index linger of the user extend forwardly to a certain extent along the top of the handle toward the' blade and extending slightly beyond the top surface of the handle.

The sloped end portion of the handle further aids in retaining the knife in the slot or opening by requiring at least a slight retraction of the knife to enable it to be withdrawn from the slot. The general ldirection of the slope is of importance because of the orientation of the knife in the backboard. The slope of the front portion of the handle forms an acute angle with the bottom surface of the handle. The rear portion of the handle is substantially in the plane of one end of the backboard. The side surfaces of the blade retaining slot formed in the backboard are preferably substantially parallel with and have a sliding t in relation to the cooperating surfaces of the blade. Because of the slope of the fr-ont end surface of the handle, the knife resists inadvertent removal.

Desirably the blade of the knife is tapered from a maximum height near the handle to a lower height at its free end. Such a shape provides maximum strength with minimum use of metal. At the junction of 4the blade and handle the blade is subject to bending and possible shearing forces, among others. The blade accordingly is desirably deeper at that junction than outwardly along the blade. Since the blade cantilevers from the handle, the depth of the Ablade need not be as great at points farther from the the handle as at the point of connection with the handle, in 4order to resist the bending and shearing action of forces .uniformly applied along the length of the blade.

Turning now to the drawings, .in FIGURE 1 the assembly 10 of the present invention may be seen to be made up of a loaf supporting board 12 and a knife 14. As may be best seen in FIGURES 4, and 6, the knife 14 is further comprised of a blade 16 having saw tooth edges 18 and set in a handle 19 which is defined by a top surface 20, a bottom surface 22, side- 'surfaces 24 and 26, and end surfaces 28 and 30. The end surface 30 is of special interest because of its configuration. The end surface 30 is a planar surface forming an acute angle with the bottom 22 and an obtuse angle with the top 20 for reasons above explained. The blade 16 has a maximum depth adjacent the handle 19. The upper surface of the blade is formed by an arcuate segment 13, tangent surface 15, and arcuate segment 17. The blade tapers in height along segment between segments 13 and 17.

The support member 12, as may be best seen in FIG- URES l, 2 and 3, is comprised of a base 32 and a backboard 34. The base 32 is further defined by planar surfaces: top surface 36, bottom surface 38, end surfaces 40 and 42, and side surfaces 44 and 46.

The backboard, as shown, may suitably be defined by substantially planar surfaces: i.e., t-op surface 48, bottom surface 50, end surfaces 52 and 54, back surface 56, and front surface 58. A cut-away defined bysurfaces 6l) and 62 is cut into the backboard and cooperates with the base 32 in assembly. As may be seen in FIGURE 3, side surface 46 of the base cooperates with the surface 62 of the backboard and the top surface 36 of the base cooperates with the surface 60 of the backboard when assembled. The base is held to the backboard by suitable fasteners 64, such as finishing head nails. Final finishing of the support structure may readily conceal these. The cut-away portion of the backboard gives unusual and unexpected stability to the assembly of the support member and :permits its effective use in conjunction with the knife.

The backboard further is cut to receive the knife in the assembled position. This comprises a cut-out portion of the backboard defined by surfaces 66 and 68 (FIGURE l) and a slot 70 (FIGURE 2) for receiving the knife handle and blade, respectively. The longitudinal slot 70 is formed by side walls 72 and 74 and bottom surface 76. As may be seen from FIGURES 4, 5 and 6, in conjunction with FIGURES 1 and 2, in the assembled position, the knife blade 16 is disposed within the slot 70 and the bottom surface 22 of the handle cooperates with the surface 66 of the backboard, and the end surface 30 of the handle cooperates With the surface 68 of the backboard in order to provide a snug repository for the knife. In the production of the assembly the handle 19 of the knife may simply be formed by severing a suitably shaped section from the backboard.

The backboard contains a transverse slot 78 defined by walls 80 and 82 and bottom 84, the latter being at the upper surface of the base 12. This device is intended for use with a loaf lof soap, such as that shown in broken lines at 86. In use a loaf of soap is disposed preferably with one of its long sides against the front surface of the backboard 34, and is so positioned that a portion of the loaf is located on each side of the transverse slot 7S. With the loaf in this position the knife 14 Amay be then removed from its retaining slot in the backboard and positioned with the blade in the slot 78 so as to guide a true and straight cut and so slice a cake of soap from the loaf. Toothed edge 18 of the blade faces downwardly at this time.

The terms and expressions which have been employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use -of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the appended claims. F-or instance, while the assembly is especially adapted for use in the severing of neat cakes of soap from a loaf it may be used in conjunction with other products of a similar structure.

What is claimed is:

1. An assembly for use in cutting a loaf of soap into cakes comprising a base member, a backboard secured to said base member, and a knife carried by said backboard, said knife having a handle portion and a blade extending therefrom; said backboard having surfaces thereon for retaining the handle of said knife, a longitudinal slot in said backboard for receiving and 4retaining the blade of said knife, said backboard being further :provided with a transverse slot, said base and backboard serving as means for supporting a loaf of soap in a predetermined orientation to said transverse slot, and said transverse slot serving to guide said knife in cutting cakes from said loaf of soap.

2. In an assembly as set forth in claim 1, said backboard having alhorizcntally disposed surface for receivlng a similar surface on the bottom of the knife handle, and said backboard and handle having cooperating surfaces inclined at an acute angle to said horizontal 'surfaces.

3. In an assembly as set forth in claim 2, said base member having substantially rectangular top, bottom, side and end surfaces, and said backboard and knife handle when the knife is being retained by said backboard providing an upwardly extending block having substantially rectangular top, bottom, side and end surfaces.

4. In an assembly as set forth in claim 3, said backboard having a portion extending downwardly in engagement with a side wall of said base member, and fastening means extending through said portion of the backboard for securing the same to said base member.

5. An assembly for cutting a loaf of soap or the like into cakes comprising:

(A) a supporting and guiding member having (a) a relatively flat base having substantially rectangular sides and ends;

(b) a backboard fastened to one lside of said base and extending at right angles thereto;

(B) a knife having a handle portion and a blade forming a unitary part of said assembly;

(a) surfaces on said backboard for retaining the handle of said knife;

(b) a longitudinal slot in said backboard for receiving the blade of said knife;

(c) a transverse slot in said backboard adapted to guide the blade of said knife in use;

(d) said knife being comprised of:

(1) a handle having configuration of predetermined Width, depth and length to cooperate with said knife retaining means in said backboard;

(2) a blade tapered from said handle to its end and being of a predetermined width to be removably retained in said longitudinal slot in said backboard and freely movable in said backboard;

(3) the surface of said handle adjacent said blade being sloped at an acute angle away from said blade from the edge near said cutting surface.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 118,304 8/1871 Ultsch 25--106 436,195 9/1890 Sample 25-#106 461,672 10/1891 Geiger 25-106 WILLIAM I. STEPHENSON, Primary Examiner,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No 3 ,335 ,473 August I5 1967 Andrew Gentoso It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 2 line 20 after "saw-toothed" insert a Comma; Column 4 line 58 after "freely movable insert in said transverse slot Signed and sealed this 25th day of June 1968 (SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD J. BRENNER Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer 

1. AN ASSEMBLY FOR USE IN CUTTING A LOAF OF SOAP INTO CAKES COMPRISING A BASE MEMBER, A BACKBOARD SECURED TO SAID BASE MEMBER, AND A KNIFE CARRIED BY SAID BACKBOARD, SAID KNIFE HAVING A HANDLE PORTION AND A BLADE EXTENDING THEREFROM; SAID BACKBOARD HAVING SURFACES THEREON FOR RETAINING THE HANDLE OF SAID KNIFE, A LONGITUDINAL SLOT IN SAID BACKBOARD FOR RECEIVING AND RETAINING THE BLADE OF SAID KNIFE, SAID BACKBOARD BEING FURTHER PROVIDED WITH A TRANSVERSE SLOT, SAID BASE AND BACKBOARD SERVING AS MEANS FOR SUPPORTING A LOAF OF SOAP IN A PREDETERMINED ORIENTATION TO SAID TRANSVERSE SLOT, AND SAID TRANSVERSE SLOT SERVING TO GUIDE SAID KNIFE IN CUTTING CAKES FROM SAID LOAF OF SOAP. 